#glastonbury ones sell out in 3 minutes

[boydykegenius]

shock horror after leeds/reading måneskin are playing the biggest fucking festival in the uk and it's the only one you can't just normally get tickets for

[thekingofgear]

Radiohead’s Crumar

A cropped portion of the cover of Minidisc 117, from MINIDISCS [Hacked]. The third track is a very early demo of Melatonin, listed here as Crumar Song.

One small but notable revelation of the MINIDISCS [Hacked] is that the song Melatonin was initially called “Crumar Song”. The studio recording of Melatonin begins with a stripped-back arrangement of just two string synthesizers panned left and right, and these synths form the foundation of the song. The MINIDISCS version (at 7:19 on track/disc 7) is even more stripped back – just Thom and the string synthesizer. It’s a recording that feels much too personal to listen to, giving a glimpse of Thom shakily throwing down the barest sketch of song to review and refine later on. However, the title lets us know that the particular string synthesizer which Thom used for Melatonin is the band’s Crumar Multiman-S (marketed in the United States as the Crumar “Orchestrator”). If the Crumar was purchased while Nigel was building Radiohead’s studio in 1996, then perhaps Melatonin was inspired by this new bit of gear.

Jonny playing the Crumar Multiman-S with his left hand and a Moog MiniMoog Voyager PE during a performance of Myxomatosis in London on May 26, 2016.

Though Jonny has scored parts for the real string sections since The Bends, Radiohead has kept up an interest in string synthesizers throughout their career. This does not come as too much of a surprise, since songs by Jonny’s favorite band, Magazine, frequently feature string synthesizers, as do later tracks by Joy Division, whose records Thom and Colin passed around when they were at school. In truth, these instruments sound only vaguely like a strings section (especially when their built-in chorus or phaser effects are active), and it’s perhaps better think of them as a different instrument altogether – rather than as a poor replica.

Unlike polyphonic subtractive synthesizers, which have a set number of voices with an oscillator (or more) per voice, string synthesizers make use of a frequency divider architecture. These instruments have a single master oscillator at a high frequency, the output of which is precisely divided to produce every note on the keyboard. This means that all keys can be played simultaneously and will produce sound, as on a piano or organ. However, what really gave these instruments a distinctive sound was the built-in phasor, chorus, and vibrato circuits. These lush effects were meant to better emulate a string section, but they give more of a warm, spacey sound.

In this screenshot from a video of Radiohead recording 2+2=5 at Ocean Way Studio B in September, 2002, the Crumar Multiman-S can be seen on the right, resting on top of the Rhodes piano (youtube). It’s hard to make out the name on the Crumar, but the distinctive spacing of its letters (“C R U M A R”) belies its identity.

Radiohead’s Crumar Multiman-S first appeared in a video of the band recording 2+2=5 at Ocean Way Studio B in September, 2002 (see photo below). It’s unlikely that it was used on that particular song, but it’s very likely that it was at least one of the primary string synths used on Hail To The Thief. The band tried to record that album as a “live” performances as much as possible, making it more likely that the string synth in the room with them is the same one heard on the album (as opposed to an album like Kid A, where heavy overdubbing was used). Almost certainly heard on Myxomatosis (1:09 onwards), and possibly on Where I End and You Begin.

In Rainbows – Disk 2 heavily features string synthesizers on tracks like Go Slowly, Up On The Ladder, and 4 Minute Warning (during the outro section). Live, Jonny and Colin have always played those parts on MIDI controllers connected to samplers, and photos from the recording of In Rainbows mostly show subtractive synths, which made it difficult to identify which string synth was used. However, a screenshot of Radiohead’s Kontakt 3 sampler from the 2008 tour revealed that the Crumar was used for Up On The Ladder. Perhaps the Crumar was used for the other songs as well.

A cropped portion of the screenshoot of Radiohead’s Kontakt 3 sampler, showing the preset titled “UP ON THE LADDER crumar” (pmtonline.co.uk).

Jonny might have been feeling nostalgic in 2016, because Jonny decided to bring the Crumar Orchestrator and his student-model ondes Martenot (instead of his Fatar MIDI keyboard and French Connection) for the band’s tour in support of A Moon Shaped Pool. But in spite of bringing a “string” synthesizer, Jonny more often used guitar, ondes Martenot, and the DSI Prophet 08 to reproduce the London Contemporary Orchestra’s string parts from A Moon Shaped Pool. During the 2016 tour, Jonny played the Crumar on Planet Telex, Street Spirit, Talk Show Host, Climbing Up The Walls, Myxomatosis, Desert Island Disk, and Tinker Tailor.

But although the album is full of string recordings, the heavily-processed “strings” panned left on the recording of Desert Island Disk sound more like a string synthesizer than real strings. Since Jonny brought the Crumar on tour in support of the album, perhaps it was used on the recording of that track.

Radiohead have occasionally performed with other string synthesizers, but only for one-off performances. Jonny used a Solina Strings Ensemble instead of a MIDI keyboard for the 2010 Haiti Benefit show, and Thom and Jonny a brought Korg Poly-Ensemble for their 2010 Glastonbury surprise show.

Some of Jonny’s Crumar settings can be seen in this screenshot of the band’s performance of Talk Show Host at NOS Alive on July 8, 2016. Looks like all sliders are set to 11...

Jonny playing the Crumar whilst adjusting his radio on Climbing Up The Walls in Lyon on June 1, 2016.

A photo which Nigel posted on his twitter account on March 25, 2013, after purchasing Native Instruments Komplete 9 (twitter). The Crumar Orchestrator can be seen behind the Korg Poly-Ensemble P PE-1000, to the right of the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5. Nigel joked that he was selling all of these keyboards after purchasing the software, but the use of the Prophet 5 on A Moon Shaped Pool and the Crumar on the 2016 tour shows clearly that he was just poking fun.

[fangirlfanwritings]

Richard Madden Request

Hi cutie can you please make an Imagine with Richard Madden? Like Lily James introduces her to Richard who later invites her to dinner in a restaurant and later he asks her to became his wife and they marry and then they expecting their first child? 😊

Hi I love your blog so much 😭 could you please make a Richard Madden imagine? Like the girl is a big fan of game of thrones and she goes to Glatsonbury fesival with her best friends and there she meet Richard ( I want an awkward but cute meeting please 😂) and also Kit and Alfie and they sympathize and spend the rest of the festival together with their friends + Richard and the girl develop a mutual crush and Richard proposes to her at the end of the festival to see again because he likes her

AN: a little swearing and I made up the movie title. I also attached links to stuff I envisioned in the store!

You walked with Lily down the long paths of grass towards the tents selling food, drinks, and thrifty shirts. “Ugh,” you groaned, “look how long these lines are.”

“Miserable,” Lily scoffed. “It might be easier if we split up. I’ll get us cute shirts and the cotton candy if you get the hotdogs and beer.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“I’ll meet you back at our tent.” She turned to leave but quickly turned back to you. “Don’t forget my friends are meeting us in half an hour at our tent. Don’t be late!”

“With this line,” you gestures, “we’ll see.”

So there you were, in a long line filled with people in their hippy concert attire waiting to get two hot dogs and two extra large beers.

18 minutes went by and you finally got to the front. “What can I get you,” the gruff voice of the man working asked. You leaned against the bar, eager to take some pressure off your feet, and waited for your order. After getting your average size hand around the non-averagely large beers you used the other to carry the hot dogs and made your way to your and Lily’s tent. You were about 20 yards away from the food tent when, as you passed by a tent, a dark haired stranger came from the other side and plowed right into your side sending one of the drinks toppling over your arm, your legs, and the ground. “Shit,” the deep voice said. “I am so sorry,” you both looked at the fallen drink on the ground.

You took a deep breath and got yourself together. “It’s ok. I can get another one later.”

“No, I am so sorry.” You looked up and met the blue eyes you had seen on HBO many times before. “I have somewhere I have to be but please let me give you some cash.”

“No, thank you really, but it’s ok.”

“I insist. Those are like 8 euros,” he fished out his wallet quickly and handed you money. “Please...”

“Y/N.” Reluctantly you accepted and shoved the money into your small pockets. “Thank you, Richard.” He looked surprised. “I’m a bit of a Game of Thrones fan and I’ve seen Cinderella a couple times. I actually have to get going also, have to meet up with my friend back at our tent.”

“It was nice to meet you Y/N,” he grinned. “Sorry again about your drink.”

“Don’t worry about it.” You were ready to leave and run back to tell Lily about how you met her co-worker who she knew you had a celebrity crush on. On second thought you thought you shouldn’t mention that to Lily until after the festival was over since she had been trying to get the two of you to meet since she learned about your little crush. But, as you went to walk towards your tent, Richard seemed to follow you.

“Oh,” you both awkwardly laughed, “you’re off this way too?” You nodded and the two of you kept walking, figuring one of you would branch off soon. But with every step the two of you continued to take together you it became clear you were stuck together for a while.

“So...are you enjoying the festival so far?”

“Um, yeah,” you were caught off guard that he was actually talking to you. “You?”

“So far, yeah.” You two kept awkward conversation going as well as awkward glances since the two of you kept walking in the same direction. You saw your bright pink tent with blue door flaps nearing and were both sad and relieved. Sad that your walk would soon be over but relieved that this awkward meeting would be over.

You stopped towards the side of your tent and shrugged with an awkward grin, “This is me. Maybe I’ll catch you later.”

“This is your tent? Really,” he chuckled unbelievingly.

“Yes. Why?” Just then Lily popped her head out and smiled, “Y/N, you’ve found Richard! Come on in.”

“You’re Lily’s friend,” you both said at the same time then laughed. Another familiar face stepped out of the tent and you recognized him as Jon Snow, aka Kit Harrington, “Come on it, we bought more drinks!”

 *End of the concert*

The concert came to an end and you, Lily, Kit, Alfie, and Richard walked towards the cars that were picking both your groups up. As the group neared Richard stopped and called your name. “Y/N.” You turned around and halted with him.

“We’ll wait for you guys,” Lily grinned and turned with the boys to walk towards the cars.

“What’s up, Rich?”

“I had a lot of fun with you and I’d like to see you again,” he said quickly. “Next Saturday at 7, dinner? I’ll pick you up.”

“Are you asking me on a date?”

His eyes gleamed, “I am.”

“Then I’ll see you next Saturday.”

 *3 years later*

You laughed your heart out at the dumb little joke Richard had tried to tell but had failed at since he mess up the punch line. After both your laughters died down a little he sighed and grinned at you. “I’m surprised that after three years you still find my awful humor this funny.”

“What can I say. It still gets me everytime.”

His face turned from goofy to happily serious. “You remember the first time we came here?” You looked around at the fancy rooftop restaurant you two were sat at.

“I do,” you nodded remembering the night fondly. “We came to celebrate you getting that big script for Not Just Another Night and I spent all night trying to subtly convince you that we should get a dog.”

“Subtly,” he scoffed. “You were anything but subtle that night. You ordered the lasagna and compared it to, something like, how some dogs have layered fur. And we got red wine and you mentioned how dogs can’t have grapes.”

“Ok, so maybe not so subtle but we did we do the next morning?”

“We went and adopted Ned.”

“We went and adopted Ned,” you grinned at your win and thought of the dalmatian that you and Rich had named after his faux father.

“This is one of my favorite places; you know that?”

“Why’s that?”

“Because that was one of my favorite nights with you, that was what led us to getting Ned, and this is the place where I asked you to marry me.” You stopped swirling your drink as his last words registered in your ears.

“What did you say?”

“I said,” he put a hand in his jacket pocket and brought out a red velvet box, “this is the place where I asked you to marry me. And, hopefully, you end up saying ‘Yes.’” He opened the box to show you the gorgeous ring inside. “I’ve loved you since I spilt beer on you at Glastonbury, and I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life without you. Make me the luckiest man on Earth and marry me.”

“Yes,” you blinked back the happy tears in your ears.”

“Yes?”

“Yes!” You struggled to keep from leaping across the table as he slid the ring on your finger.

*Wedding Day*

The reception was in full swing when a slow song took over the dance floor. You were standing over in by the tables talking with some of your guests when a hand snaked against your waist. “Mind if I have this dance with my beautiful bride?” You turned and grinned at your husband’s voice. Husband...that’s a word you could definitely get used to.

Your guest’s let you go and watched as you and Richard walked hand and hand to the dance floor. “I meant what I said. You look beyond beautiful.” You looked down at your dress and smiled.

“I’m glad you think so because this dress wasn’t cheap,” you smiled and leaned your head against his shoulder, swaying to the beat of the music. “We’re married,” you said in awe with your eyes closed.

“We are,” you could hear the smile in his voice. “You’re stuck with me now.”

“Good.”

 *5 months later*

You sat on the couch with the TV on and your laptop on your lap, mindlessly listening to the noise of the TV and staring at the computer screen that hadn’t changed in 10 minutes. You were just eager for Richard to get home. The familiar sound of keys jingling outside your front door sounded and you made yourself look busy. When you heard the door open you called out, “Hey babe!” You heard him kick his shoes off and walk towards you. He leaned over and kissed your cheek from behind the couch.

“Evening beautiful. I’m going to grab a drink, want anything?”

“I’m ok, thanks.” You tried to act normal and closed your computer when Richard came on the couch and sat by you. “How was your day?”

“Great. Busy. Yours?”

“Average.” Ned, who had been waiting on the floor for Richard to pet him, finally had enough of waiting and hopped up. Ned lept on the couch and stood over your husband.

“Hey buddy,” he rubbed him and you waited for the clink of his collar tags to catch his Dad’s attention. After what you felt was too much time, you gave up on being subtle. “Hey, check Ned’s tags. I feel like he needs new ones soon.” You saw him reach for the collar and heard him stop moving suddenly.

“Y/N…” He peered over Ned and smiled at you. “Does this mean what I think it means?” You smiled and nodded your head as he looked back at the pacifier you had hanging with Ned’s tags on his collar. “I’m going to be a dad?”

“You’re going to be a dad.”

[drvinyl]

Alternatives To Glastonbury 2020

Words by Sam Walker

As someone who resides in London and has friends with enough disposable income to splash out on leisure activities, it was inevitable that there was going to be something I’d miss out on next summer. 

It just so happened to be Glastonbury this time, the festival of all festivals that now seems to be increasingly growing in popularity - it took just 33 minutes for the 2020 tickets to sell out.

But are there any better alternatives? I investigated more to find out what next summer is offering up in the quest to find ‘The best Glastonbury alternative that isn’t Glastonbury but is just as good as Glastonbury.’

Boomtown Fair

Boomtown first came about in 2009, and each year the festival is a different “Chapter" which carries on from the previous year.

The festival site is split into several districts and the storyline narrative is reflected through the districts, streets and venues, which are populated by hundreds of actors who play the role of inhabitants.

Last year’s guests included Lauryn Hill, The Streets, and Groove Armada.

When and where: 12-17 August, Hampshire, UK.

SXSW

SXSW or South by SouthWest is not strictly just a music festival, but more a collection of music, film and interactive media festivals and conferences that showcase talent from across the globe usually across a whopping ten days.

It has been successful in kick-starting the careers of John Mayer, James Blunt and even Hanson back in the 90’s. Mmm yes, that’d definitely make me consider buying a ticket.

When and where: 13-22 March, Texas, USA.

Latitude

More laid back in style and approach, this festival is perfect for anyone who wants a more family-friendly festival.

Last year featured Stereophonics, Lana del Rey and George Ezra.

When and where: 16-19 July, Suffolk, UK.

Tomorrowland

Held in the aptly named Boom in Belgium, Tomorrowland has grown over the years to become one of the most renowned festivals on the global stage.

It’s renowned for its pyrotechnics, has won a string of awards, and tickets usually sell out in just minutes.

Acts from previous years include Martin Garrix, The Chainsmokers and David Guetta.

When and where: 17-19 and 24-26 July, Boom, Belgium.

Wireless

Starting out in 2005 when it mostly promoted rock and pop artists, it has grown to be a showcase for established and upcoming hip-hop and urban talent.

Previous acts include Cardi B, Stormzy and Drake.

When and where: 3-5 July, London, UK.

Isle of Wight

Established in 1968, It’s one of the longest running festivals in the UK, and was originally designed as a counter-culture event.

The unexpectedly high attendance levels in 1970 led parliament to legislate for changes in Isle of Wight’s County Council licensing on numbers of attendees allowed at the festival, and the festival closed it’s gates for 32 years.

Since then it’s been restored to its former glory and has had a whole plethora of acts performing including the Rolling Stones, Chic, Fleetwood Mac and many more.

When and where: 11-14 June, Isle of Wight, UK.

Primavera Sound

Since it’s inception just under two decades ago, the festival has become renowned for featuring artists of old and new, and for showcasing artists across a variety of genres.

This year it became the first major music festival to completely ditch paper tickets in favour of mobile-only ticketing.

Previous artists have included Kendrick Lamar, Neil Young, Patti Smith, the Cure plus more.

When and where: 4-6 June, Barcelona, Spain.

Neverworld (formerly Leefest)

Given that I had the chance to perform at this festival when I was a young sprout, and it’s local to me in South-East London, I feel it would be sacrilege to not mention it.

Starting out in his back garden in 2006 when his parents went away for the weekend, Co-founder Lee Denny’s festival has since grown (out of his parents back garden) and has come to feature artists such as Clean Bandit, Bastille, Jake Bugg and one of Glastonbury’s 2019’s highlights for many, Jungle.

When and where: 30 July-1 August, Kent, UK.

El Dorado

The festival branch of party starters Cirque du Soul, El Dorado has only been going a few years but promises to offer a vibrant, colourful atmosphere mixed with some top-notch disc jockeys and funk and soul acts.

Past artists have been Kool and the Gang, Sister Sledge and Todd Terje among others.

When are where: 2-5 July, Herefordshire, UK.

So there you have it, just to name a few festivals I’d keep my eye on and buy tickets for if I could, but NOT in my current financial state.

[harritudur]

rpf . jodie comer/jacob collins-levy . 3 155 words . rating M

note: as I promised, here my Jodie x Jacob smut. I tried to not turn this into a gratuitous smutty fic and so, I decided to add some fluff as well lol :) For @thefairfleming​ who gave me the courage to write and to post this shit fic (again, i apologize for the typos and my bad english)

-

Jodie couldn’t remember why she had ever thought it would be a good idea to start in the first place. Sometimes she blamed it on drink, on the nice French Rosé. And then, the annoying voice in the back of her head that sounded a little like her Mum telling her to stop being such a naive fool. She should have been enough of an adult to admit to her mistakes.

The thing was, she couldn’t find it in herself to stop.

-

Two weeks before, Jodie’s computer began to ring with the sounds of a Skype call from Jacob. Her former co-star whom she hadn’t made the least attempt to contact when she was still in the UK and he, in L.A. -or Australia maybe? They were not been in touch often recently. “Hello, Miss Comer,” he said, and then checked his watch. “It’s almost 7pm in L.A.! What are you doing up at such an ungodly hour?” “Working!” she replied proudly, showing to the camera the recent script she received for a new play in London. “What about you?” “Well, I am keep selling my soul in Hollywood for the sake of my career”. There was a hint of something in his voice that she can’t decipher, and yet it made her nervous. "I heard you were in the US recently and you didn’t even call me?” “Well, I wasn’t technically in the US,” Jodie said, taking a sip of her nocturnal tea. (British habits die hard) “I was in New York.” “East coast superiority problem,” he snorted, and he got this unreadable expression on his face. “How is England?” “Damp. And lovely,” she said, smiling brightly. “I will be there soon. To visit my father’s side of the family. It’s been a while… Can I come visit you at some point as well?” Jodie was slightly taken aback. He’d never asked if he could come visit. They’d been mostly cut off from each other since he’d gone to Los Angeles. “Yeah, Jake. Sure. If you felt like it.” “I will,” he said. “You mark my words, I will.”

-

To be honest, she wasn’t expecting him to show up. But, Jacob had always been hyperactive, a touch unpredictable and adventurous (she liked to call him Crocodile Dundee on set, just for the tease), so she was only about sixty percent surprised when he called her from Heathrow. “Jodz,” he said, “why aren’t you here to pick me up?” “Probably because you didn’t tell me you were coming! But I’ll come now.” She grabbed her keys and ran out the door before she could even think about what she was doing. Luckily for him, she moved to London the last week –a better decision for her career. “Finally,” Jacob said as she burst through the door at the airport, scrubbing a hand through his hair like he had just woken up from a long nap. “Finally, she shows up.” “Do you have any idea how far Heathrow is from London, Jacob!” Jodie said, trying to ignore the conspicuous lump in her throat and the way her heart rate sped up a little when he stepped forward and gave her a massive bear hug. “Missed you, Jodz,” he whispered in her ear, and suddenly, yup, there they all were, all those crazy feelings that she hadn’t let herself express for all those months she’d co-starred with him. “Missed you too, Jacob,” she said, and now she regretted not calling him while she was in the US.

-

True to form, he had no interest in actually sitting down for a proper meal, so they managed to navigate the interminable Tube of London for some takeaway Indian food that didn’t look like it would give them food poisoning. They sat on the floor in Jodie’s flat she just rented, cardboard boxes everywhere (and Jacob couldn’t believe how much of an improvement it was over any flat for a comparable -or even more expensive- price in Los Angeles) and chewed down. Just like old times in their trailers.

She brought out from her fridge a bottle of cheap French Rosé and they’d swapped stories about friends, family, one-night stands. He’d let her listen to a few songs on his ipod. She’d teased him about his Californian tan. She’d talked about Glastonbury Festival. He’d regretted to not have been there with her. They’d drunk the bottle dry.

Jodie hadn’t felt much nostalgia or sadness for her many former co-stars, realizing she’d gone off and lost touch with many of them. And more important, she’d had the possibility to meet them in London when she wished to. But now, she was nostalgic and sad -she didn’t know how much she missed him and how much she hated suddenly the Atlantic & the Pacific Oceans (and the Indian one too!). Jodie wasn’t aware that Jacob had been staring at her the whole time as she looked contemplatively in to her rice. “Jodz,” he said, “are you okay?” She exhaled, and looked back up at him. “Yeah, I’m alright. Just… missing the old days, you know?” There was a beat of silence. He smiled wistfully, which was an ability Jodie didn’t believe that people could develop before the age of thirty. “Yeah,” he said. “Me too. That’s why I’m here, I suppose.” “So you came all this way to sit on my floor and eat curry with me, and I suppose you’re flying back tomorrow in time for… your family right? Or an audition maybe? An event? Or a romantic dinner with whoever you are hooking up with?” The twinge of bitterness that Jodie heard in her voice was unintended, and she almost apologized to him right there. He laughed, harsh and bitter, like she’d never heard him laugh before. “God, we’ve been out of touch, haven’t we Jodie? No one is waiting for me in my cold cold bed.” “I’m sorry…” and instinctively, she reached out for him and grabbed his hand. Jacob sighed. “I miss you.” “Same, Jake.” “You’ve done an awful good job of hiding it.” “Oh come on,” Jodie said, reeling. “We’ve both been busy. I’ve been doing auditions and some new projects are in the coming. I’m an actress. It’s my job! I could say the same about you.” “I just thought… I just thought we were…” Jacob said, struggling to finish. Never once in her life, she had seen him at such a loss for words. If it weren’t for the emotional gravitas that she suspected the situation deserved, she would have whipped out her phone and taken a video. “Friends?” Jodie supplied, trying her best to be helpful. “Friends?” Jacob practically yelled back at her, his hands shaking. “Oh, sod it.” He got up and made his way towards the door. “Jacob,” she said, popping up and running after him, stopping him just short of her front entranceway, “what the hell?” “Friends, huh Jodie? Right, because I’m going to fly all the way across the goddamn Oceans for someone who I like as a friend. I don’t understand how you could possibly be so thick!” Quieter, he continued, his sharp blue eyes on her. “Did you really just want to be friends this whole time?”

A pause.

“No…” Jodie just managed, and finally, here, she was being perfectly honest; she was addressing the feelings that Jacob gave her, and everything that she missed about the last year and him most of all. “No, I didn’t not want to be just friends, but I felt that our hands were a little tied. There was this whole unspoken rule about not dating your co-star, and I had commitments in the UK and you had your life in Australia and then… then I just wasn’t around anymore, and you deserve more than a girlfriend half a world away, and you deserve to have a great career as well, and… it’s like life just kept getting in the way. Bad timing or whatever it is. But, yeah, the way I dreamed about you or us or… the things I managed to think up… it was just, you know? Just a dream…”

Based on the look Jacob was giving her at this exact second, Jodie could’t decide if he was going to kiss her, or storm out her flat door. But the next thing she knew he is crushing himself against her, arms wrapped around her waist and lips against hers. She felt his tongue prodding her lips, and she opened her mouth to him and mentally fist-pumped, and then shivered when he ran his tongue across hers and gently slipped his fingers under the hem of her t-shirt. The feeling of his fingers on her skin made her mind spin with anticipation. He pulled away, looked at her kind of funny, and said, “Is someone else dropping by tonight?” What? Oh yes, we are in London, she realized, and a Saturday night, and I have friends in the city. “No. No Jake… there’s not anyone coming, if that’s what you’re implying…” “Good,” he whispered, “because I am taking you to bed and we are not leaving there for a while.” “Oh,” Jodie said, and hoped that she wasn’t making too much of a dopey happy face. Then she was the one kissing him. An impulsive action –and she thought that she still had some part of Lizzie in her head when she did it. They had kissed so many times before. But this, this felt different from the working-friendly snogs they had shared in front of the crew ~for the job. The kiss tasted of darkness and the metallic hint of danger and excitement. It tasted new. She’d say that the drink had made her just the slightest bit reckless, but it wasn’t true. Not entirely.

She walked him back through her rented apartment. He stopped her somewhere in the middle of her living room not far away from their abandoned dinner (waste of good Indian food, she thought) and kissed her again, and something about how his hands were once again under her shirt and rubbing against her low back made her knees go conspicuously weak. Jacob took advantage of that and subsequently picked her up and carried her bridal style to her bedroom. She tossed her head back and laughed and was still laughing when he placed her down on her bed. “You literally cannot be serious about anything for more than five minutes,” she said as he climbed over her. “You’re about to be proved very, very wrong,” Jacob said, and Jodie had a snarky response forming in her head that died on her lips as soon as he kissed her again. And suddenly getting his shirt off was very high on her list of priorities. She gave up on the buttons and just ripped it, then mentally reminded herself to help him sew those buttons back on if they ever got out of bed.

He didn’t seem to care, but there he was, bare-chest, on top of her, with his lips on her neck and she moaned embarrassingly loud. She could feel him smiling against her skin, the bastard. She sat up briefly to aid Jacob in getting her shirt off, and her bra, and then he laid her back down and relieved her of her jeans and knickers. Not to be outdone, she started undoing his belt but he pushed her back on the mattress and settled over her, kissing a trail down her body. He slipped off the edge of the bed to kneel, kissed the inside of her thighs, and positioned his face between her legs. He looked up at her and opened his mouth to ask a question. She somehow (because she had no idea on how her brain would actually been working) intuited what he was about to ask.

“God yes,” half-spoken, half-moaned.

About a second later her head was thrown back as she felt pleasure course through her body as his tongue rolled against her clit. This simple motion made her gasp out loud. The sound seemed to please him, and he growled low in his throat before attacking her with tongue and lips and gentle teeth, until Jodie was biting her lips and forcing herself not to wrap her thighs around his head. One, then two fingers entered her and she literally gasped as they curled inside her. She dug her heel in to Jacob’s back accidentally, and as soon as he reached up and replaced her hand on her nipple with his she involuntarily pushed harder in to his back with her heel. That was probably going to leave a little bruise, she thought, but he didn’t seem to stop or mind, even when she threaded her hand in his hair. He started focusing intently on her nub, and next thing she knew she was arching off the bed and coming around his fingers. Pulling them from her body, he climbed up over her on the bed.  

Jodie wanted to move, to drag him down on her, to taste his lips once more and herself at the same time, and to return him the favor. But instead she watched him strip as he kept a safe distance between them. A part of her wanted to help, to shorten the torture, and to get rid of that satisfied smirk on his face –yet, another part wanted to enjoy the show, to savor each new glimpse of his skin and to memorize them for her lonely nights. But the impatience that curled in her low belly was hard to tame. Socks and shoes, then the belt and jeans followed, kicked off and the boxers flew somewhere and then he was naked, finally.

“Jodie,” he breathed looking down at her. Fuck! her name sounded so good on his tongue. His voice was broken, his Australian accent more marked, and his eyes were darker than anything she’d ever seen; she just wanted to kiss him absolutely senseless, “…do you have anything?”

Oh, that. How unfair that he should ask her where anything (especially something so infrequently used by her nowadays) was in her post-orgasmic haze. “Ummm,” she said to help, and flailed in the general direction of a cardboard-box by her nightstand. In vain. “One second,” Jacob said, and quickly dashed out of the bedroom, which at once was one of the most hilarious and sexy things that she’d possibly ever seen. She really hoped he didn’t trip over anything because she was not doing first aid on his naked… anything. She heard his suitcase unzip and zip and he came back with a fistful of condoms, swaggering triumphantly. “Bloody Hell,” she said, as he deposited all but one on the nightstand, “You totally planned this whole thing.” “The possibility crossed my mind,” Jacob replied. “Allow me,” Jodie said, with a wicked smile, and pushed him back so he was lying on the bed. She ripped the foil open with her teeth, tossed it aside, and rolled the condom on, never taking her eyes off of him. There was something extremely gratifying about the way that his head lolled back and his mouth fell open. Deciding that she relished the sensation of being in control, she straddled him and sunk on to him as slow as she could possibly manage. “God, Jodz… Jodie,” he sputtered out, “just do it already.” His hands moved to her hips and tightened. “Don’t know why you think this is any easier for me Jacob,” she sputtered out, but put on a veil of crazy confident feminine guile and started rolling her hips very slowly. She bit her lip hard, and looked down at Jacob whose pupils were blown out and just looked absolutely wrecked. His thumb found her clit and started rubbing it gently, and then harder, and then right when she was about to come, thanks Jacob, he rolled them over and started thrusting in to her. It was sinfully good to feel his skin against hers. She wanted everything, wanted to lose herself in the warmth of his skin, the taste of his lips, and to pretend that the world outside her flat didn’t exist. That they weren’t betraying any social convention for coworkers –or acquaintances? –or friends? Really? He was gentle, at first, one hand pressing her right wrist into the mattress, the other wrapped around her hip as he thrusts into her. Again and again and again and then he started to lose some of his control, and the hand around her wrist pushes down harder. It felt so good. They felt so good, fitted so well together and moved so in time with each other. Heat built in her and she could feel the rest of the world fading away into the background, and she wanted to close her eyes because there would be sparks behind her eyelids, but he wouldn’t let her out of his gaze. Just as she didn’t want to stop looking at the blue of his eyes. Jacob pulled almost all the way out of her and thrust into her again, deliberate and slow this time, and Jodie could feel the crest of her climax rising to meet his and she chased it eagerly, rocking her hips back against his. Maybe she was a little out of line, but the look on Jacob’s face told her she was doing something extremely pleasing. She buried her flushed face in the crock of his neck and bit down into the pale, pristine flesh of his shoulders and marked it hers. A low moan from him. And then, his hand at her hip loosened its grip and cupped her face instead and suddenly he was kissing her, all sweet tenderness and heat. Jodie kissed him back hungrily, whining into his mouth. So close. She was so damned close– “Let go,” he said against her lips, after pulling his mouth away from hers. “…you’re beautiful like this. So beautiful.” His accent, music to her ears. Then suddenly he was just hitting the spot, and then she was arching off the bed and seeing stars, and she was just barely aware of his hips stuttering and then giving one final prodigious thrust and collapsing on top of her. They just lay there like that for an indeterminate amount of time (Jodie wasn’t going to be counting anything, she knew that much) until he rolled off of her and dealt with the condom. She was still lying on her back when he got back to bed and he curled up beside her.

Taking this as her cue, she wound her arms around him, pulled him against her, felt his breath on her neck and shivered with post-orgasmic delight. He pressed a kiss to her collarbone, then to her neck, making her giggle, and then he kissed her so gently she could almost cry. Jodie wished there was more to this, more than just her London flat and previous stolen moments in trailers. More time. More of him. Her fingers ran through his messy hair and pulled him closer for another kiss. And then another, until she felt him stirring against her again.

“Fuck,” she stated as her hand moved down his body to cup the curve of his arse. “We’re screwed now, aren’t we?”

He didn’t even try to argue this statement. His hands cupped her face and before she could breathe he kissed her. “Oh yes, we are.”

For the first time in a long time, Jodie felt whole.

-

His return ticket had been booked for the next weekend, but he managed to worm his way out of further events and auditions (“My new agent will kill me later” he jested) so that he could stay two weeks. One morning, he disappeared for two hours, but re-appeared with red and white roses so she forgave him the minor heart attack. “Seriously? Jake?,” the reference obvious, but she accepted them anyway. He disappeared as well an whole day, but she knew it was to see an aunt or an uncle in Essex. Easy to forgive.

Later that month, she followed Jacob back to L.A. (“For work!” she had claimed to her friends who were not buying this shit). He was there, of course, waiting at the airport, and he took her to his flat without any questions. Unexpectedly, there was an extra chest of drawers waiting for her. “Thanks. It would make things easier,” she said in a smile. “I’m looking forward to this.” “Me too,” he said, and kissed her.

It was Jacob’s phone ringing that woke them, and Jodie blinked, the California sun already shining through the window. She didn’t realized she was so tired. The Hollywood way of life -and other private exertions. She was vaguely aware of Jacob groaning, his arms unwrapping from her as he stretched to pick up his phone. She turned back, spooning around him and scattering kisses over his shoulders and neck as he talked. “Hello? Oh, Emma, good morning. Yes, yes, I’m fine. I don’t know, we haven’t… Okay. Yes. Yes, she’s still here.” Jodie frowned. Even though she only heard half of the conversation, she knew he was talking about her. Telling Emma she had stayed the night might not be a good idea. “I’ll tell her. Yes. Thank you. Bye.” He hung up after this little talk and placed the phone back on his bedside table, before turning back and wrapping his arms around her. “Hello.” He kissed her nose and she couldn’t help but smile. “Hello. Hmm, what did Emma want?” “Oh, nothing, just be sure everything was alright. She is planning a dinner this week so, we could go? And she says hello.” “Jacob…” She tried to be serious but it was difficult with his hands on her hips, just upon her ticklish spot. “Why did you tell her I was here?” “It’s true, isn’t it?” “I’m not sure she had to know…” “Oh. She already knew.” “What?” He shrugged. “Said it was obvious and that we should have realized before.” Jodie turned pale, her blood freezing as she wondered what she meant by obvious, and who else knew. And then she remembered the many smiles and teasing and eye-rolling from her friends. Was the great actress Jodie Comer so easy to read? “Are you okay?” he cupped her face and brushed her cheeks gently, eyes full of affection. Oh shit. She was in love with this man -maybe she hadn’t realized it all quite yet. Or maybe she had, and this sudden understanding was like letting out a breath Jodie didn’t know she was holding since months. “More than okay,” she sighed, and let him kiss her, and more.

- -

[mumwave]

TRIPLE (edition 1)

TRIPLE

three songs, old or new, worth listening to this week

this week: slowthai, Skepta, and Tame Impala

1. GORGEOUS - slowthai

‘Gorgeous’, from UK rapper Tyron Frampton, is the second single off of his upcoming debut album, ‘Nothing Great About Britain’.  Frampton assumed the ‘slowthai’ moniker in 2016, and began releasing a steady stream of punk-y, politically charged singles, with stand-out tracks like ‘Doorman’. The latest offering from the Northampton rapper has a sweeter feeling to it, though. The instrumental combines a piano loop with a sample of what sounds like scat singing, and is driven by slightly off-beat drums reminiscent of J Dilla.

“Never had a mortgage, buy my house outright

Been the same since GameBoys and stick fights”

On ‘Gorgeous’, Frampton is nostalgic, recounting teenage exploits and referencing staples of his Northampton upbringing; church, weed, police, snooker, and football. In fact, the track finishes with a minute-long recording of a conversation, where Frampton recounts himself and his dad trying and failing to get into a Liverpool football match. For an artist whose calling card thus far has been anger and bizzarity, this ephemeral snapshot of an English upbringing is a welcome surprise.

2. YES I’M CHANGING - tame impala

Popular music has seen a pronounced shift in the last two decades, away from rock music and towards hip-hop and r&b. There are less and less new rock bands headlining festivals and these spots continue to be happily filled by the worlds biggest rappers (as evidenced by Kanye West at Glastonbury ‘15). Tame Impala, however, continue to prove that rock isn’t dead. The Australian psychedelic rock outfit, led by Kevin Parker, experienced huge commercial and critical success with their 2015 album ‘Currents’, and have played just about every major venue and festival worldwide since.

“I saw it different, I must admit

I caught a glimpse, I’m going after it”

In ‘Yes I’m Changing’, like many other tracks from Currents, Kevin Parker deals with lost love, and laments to his partner that times have changed and so has he. But it’s the sound that’s the real stand-out on this song. A simple bass and drum pattern provides the framework for a beautiful weaving of 80’s style synthesisers. Parker’s voice is its own instrument as well, his high-pitched falsetto floating over the song’s soundscape. ‘Yes I’m Changing’ is bittersweet but angelic, a perfect blend of Parker’s tales of heartbreak and Tame Impala’s signature heavenly sound.

3. BULLET FROM A GUN - skepta

Bullet From A Gun is the surprise single from Skepta’s upcoming album,

Ignorance is Bliss, due to release on the 31st of May.

The UK Grime scene has experienced much change since its conception almost 20 years ago, and very few of its originators are still making considerable impact with new music. Skepta is an exception to the rule. Skepta, real name Joseph Adenuga, began MCing in 2005, but moved away from grime in the early 2010’s. His triumphant return in 2016 with third album Konnichiwa spawned multiple anthems, like Shutdown and That’s Not Me, and he’s since gone on to produce and feature on A$AP Rocky’s Praise Da Lord, one of the best-selling singles of 2018.

“I was a young boy, mum told me what my name

really means and the power just kicked in”

On Bullet From A Gun, Skepta retains his signature production style and flow, but the content in noticeably different. References to his Nigerian heritage, his relationship with supermodel Naomi Campbell, and his newborn daughter mark a signature departure from bars like “Crack residue in the buttons on my phone - ring ring p**** it’s your mummy on the phone”. The beat itself is astounding. Warped synthesisers that seem to play almost in reverse float over heavy grime bass and drums, and Skepta’s North London flow skips and jumps over the kicks and snares. With a first single like this, the upcoming album has the potential to be a game changer.

[duchess08]

Draft ii.

“Ah, it’s raining again. It has been 3 days I’m arrived at home wet from head to toe, with wrinkled fingers and drenched hair.” I grumble silently.

I turn my back, walking towards the nearest minimarket. It’s cold and it’s making me hungry. I’m wandering around, thinking about what should I buy but the choices are so limited. Well, it's just a little mini market in the middle of nowhere, silly me. Finally, I choose to buy a water and a cup of ice cream. Then I walk toward the chairs, to sit down while waiting for the rain to stop.

While I'm busy scrolling my phone and eating ice cream, a guy suddenly tap my back.

"Can I sit here?" he asked

He's wet. Really wet. Maybe he's on the way and suddenly the rain is pouring. Water dribbles from his damp hair and his body looks a little bit trembling from the cold.

"Yeah, sure." I replied

My eyes are back to the phone but I still see him from the corner of my eyes. He's busy drying himself out with a box of tissues that he just bought. He takes off his wet jacket. His body trembles from the coldness. Yeah, the AC is turned on and we can't go outside because of the heavy rain.

I take my bag and fish out my hand towel. Well, it's not much. I just got this from the office, a souvenir from last night' meeting and there are still a bunch of them right on my desk, a spare. He seems really need this.

"Hi.. Do you want to use this?" I said with my hands holding the towel to him

He looks surprised. His mouth is opened like he just saw some weird creatures. Well... I'm the weird creature but I can't help it.

“...you sure?" he hesitated

"Yeah, I haven't used this by the way so it's clean. And seems like, you really need it now.." I said

"Thanks a lot! Yeah, these tissues are no help," he said while taking the towel off from my hands.

After that, I'm busying myself again with my phone. Scrolling the weather forecast, bus schedules, news, to check when will I able to go home.

"Ice cream, huh?" he chuckles.

"Excuse me?", taking my eyes off from my phone screen to him. His eyes are seeing my ice cream and then he laughs a little.

"A unique choice in this kind of weather, arent you think?" and then he smiled, showing his white perfect teeth.

While my mind is still trying to comprehend his words, he suddenly talks again

"I guess it suits better with bread. You know, like the one that they sell in SG. Back then, it was my favorite snack ever." he said.

And then he gets up, kinda running towards the bread and ice cream section, taking one of each. Me, still being dazed with this stranger, is just look at him with confusion. What is he doing?

He's then back to the chair and put his purchases on the table in front of us. What are we gonna do? A big snacking?

“Put this with your ice cream. It will taste way better and it will lessen the coldness so you won’t catch flu” he explains

My brows are furrowed, getting more confused with what he's suddenly doing. He then realizes that I don't get what he's currently doing.

"Oh seriously, I'm not putting anything. I don't put any poison in it! Trust me! Ask the cashier!" he shouts a little, with a horrified look on his face.

And then I laugh, loudly. How absurd is this, a stranger suddenly thought that I accuse him as a criminal. He, after realizing this weird situation, joins me laughing. We are so weird.

"Oh God, what are we both thinking... Sorry, I'm so surprised. I never even think that you will put something on this while you just left for like a minute right in front of my eyes." I said

"I know. God, but look at your surprised face. I thought you just saw a ghost or something. But seriously, try this with your ice cream before it melts. It's really good! Consider this as my thank you for your help" he laughs and giving the bread to me

I open the bread and dip it my ice cream like a fondue.

"No, you're doing it in the wrong way." and then he shows me how it's done. He takes his ice cream and take one scoop of his ice cream and put it in his bread and then he folds it.

"This is the best way to eat ice cream." he said and then he takes a big bite and making an exaggerating mmm sound like it's the most delicious food ever. While he's gobbling up his foods, his hands making a gesture like I should do it now. I open my bread and do the same thing that he just demonstrated a while ago. Wow, it's pretty much the same in what they sell in SG but a cheaper version. My hands formed a big okay, agree that this is delicious.

"It's good! Thank you, seems I'm gonna snatch all these bread and bring it home." I laugh.

"It's okay. But I bet that this will be run out before the rain stops. It seems it will take hours." he said

"No. The weather forecast said that it's gonna stop in less than an hour." I insisted.

"Then how about we're making a bet? If the rain stops in less than an hour than I'll do something that you ask. And vice-versa. I swear I'm not gonna ask something odd like asking out a stranger or...." he stopped after I point him

"Oh God, no! I don't mean that" he laughs

"Okay. I have something in mind" I smiled devilishly.

I'm thinking about him asking out the cashier because seriously, she's been checking him out a few times. Well, I can't deny that he's attractive. He has a very good build, not too muscular but not skinny as well. He's tall, really tall actually. His skin is so white, and his ears are burning red now, maybe because of the coldness. His lashes.... It's pretty long and his eyes are deep brown. Wait, am I checking him out? Goodness, he's a stranger! Come back to earth!

"Hey! You plan something so bizarre, aren't you? You're suddenly dozed off. You scared me" he shuddered

"Aren't you as well?" I asked

"No, mine is pretty easy, I guess. How am I gonna do something evil to the kind stranger who already lent me a towel?" he smiled whole-heartedly

I blushed. What is he doing to me? That smile shouldn't exist. Okay, take a deep breath. He’s just a stranger that passing by.

"Okay, deal. It’s 5.37 pm now. If the rain stops before 6.37 pm then I win, if it’s not then it’s your win” I said

“Deal,” and then he takes my hand and shake it. His hands are big, compared to mine. His hold is soft yet so strong. I’m a little bit surprised that he’s bold enough to take my hands but then, maybe it’s just me being too conservative.

And the time passed easily. We talk about nearly everything. He knows that I’m working as a doctor. I also know that he’s working as a banker. I know that today he took a day off after a long exhausting week of flying back and forth from SG to Jakarta because of business. He planned to sleep all day long but his mom called, asking him to go over to her house for awhile to babysit her niece. He showed me his cute little niece who’s currently love to smile if you ticked her rosy cheeks. He said that he has his appendix removed back in Uni because of the excessive love of spicy foods. He also hates rain, like me.

But it's funny to know that we're from the same university. It's also funny to know that he worships Arctic Monkeys like me. We agree that Glastonbury is the best music festival ever and Coachella is overrated. We agree that Alex Turner looks best in Humbug era. We also agree that Jakarta needs more coffee shop, a real coffee shop. We also agree that Indonesia tv show' sucks and radio shows should be appreciated more. And we agree that this rain isn't actually that bad.

"Thanks to you, anyway. If there's no you, I might be bored as hell waiting the rain to stop. Or maybe I'm gonna buy all the snacks and eat all alone like a madman." he admitted.

"The same goes to you. Maybe I'm just gonna scroll my timeline and cursing nonstop." I replied.

The time is passing by. The second tick rotates, followed by the minute tick, and finally, the hour tick moved little by little and the clock shows that it's already 6.37 pm.

"Hey! Look! I win!" he shouted, pointing his finger at the clock. He looks like a little kid on Christmas morning. His eyes shine brightly, and his hands are throwing fists into the air, making gestures like he's the champion.

"Okay, so what do you want? Please give me mercy, and remember that I already give you my very precious towel" I said with a serious face.

"No, I already said it before right that I won't ask you to do something weird? Trust me. But I'll tell you after the rain stopped" he said.

I replied him with a nod. Well, I know that he won't ask me any weird stuff. He looks too kind to do that. And also surprisingly, I'm looking forward to his wish. Geez, this guy is really growing out on me.

And just like that, after 10 minutes the rain stops. It feels like the whole world is working to make him win this bet. It's already dark and I should catch the bus and get home fast. I remembered that my works are piling up and I have to get it done soon. He also said that he will have a flight to SG (again) in tomorrow morning. We pick up our trash and getting ready. And we finally walk out to the door, ready to part away.

"So, what's your bet? A promise is a promise, right. I'm gonna do it like a big kid" I said, laughing.

And he suddenly looks nervous. He brushed his hair and his eyes wandering around, avoiding my eyes which are fixated on his. He looks down, and finally, he said something, more like mumbling because I can't catch on what he said.

"What? I didn't hear you" I said, a little bit louder because of the traffic sound.

"You. Your name. And anything to contact you in the future" he said. His eyes finally see me, he really looks shy. Like this is the first time he did this. Well, it's my first time too. Just look at my surprised face. I'm sure my mouth formed a big O and I must be looked like an idiot.

"You want my name? And my contact?" I asked, still in disbelief with his request.

"Yeah. I'm sorry but that's what I've been thinking. I won't disturb you, I promise. But I don't want to let this chance slide easily right in front of me. And I wish to see you again in the future. But I don't insist. If you're not okay, then fine." he said. His eyes are soft, sincere. I just can't resist smiling.

"But remember what you've said before. A promise is a promise," he added, a soft chuckle left his mouth.

I laughed. This smart-mouthed guy, seriously. Then, I take my notes from the bag, writing my name and my number into the paper. I rip off the page and handing it to him. He scans it for a while.

"Alexa, huh?" he said my name for the first time. And I don't know how it works but hearing my name spoken by him made my insides churn.

"Yep. And you?" I asked

"Aidan. But don't call me with "Ayyyy" like my friends did. That annoys me a lot". He joked. I laughed. This guy, seriously.

"Mmm, okay. So, I guess we part now. I really have to go" I said, looking at my watch, showing that it's already 7.00 pm. Shit.

"Yeah, okay. Thank you, once again. I'm gonna find a way to return this to you, okay? Be safe!" he said. Is it just me or his face looks a little bit concerned? Okay, I'm sure it's just me.

"Sure. You too. Have a safe flight tomorrow and have fun! Laters, Aidan!" I said.

"Laters! Wait! Garrett's caramel medium size is enough, right?" he asked

"Hahaha. Whatever. See you, stranger!" I walked out to the nearest bus cab, a little bit running because it seems the bus will arrive soon.

"See ya!" I heard his voice that sounds already far away. I turn my head for the last time, to see this magical guy who suddenly appeared in the middle of the rain. And there he is, still looking focused on me, with his hand waving at me and his big smile pestered over his face.

And that's my one fine afternoon.

[fakaza247]

Live updates as Glastonbury 2020 sold out with demand higher than ever for 50th anniversary festival

Tickets for Glastonbury 2020 go on general sale today with See Tickets and are expected to sell out quick for what is the 50th anniversary of the Worthy Farm festival.

We’ve got plenty of top ticket buying tips to help you get your hands on them.

Thousands of would be festival goers will be desperately trying to get tickets to the event today, which tends to sell out within an hour of going on sale.

No headliners have yet been confirmed for next year’s festival but the rumour mill includes Taylor Swift, Fleetwood Mac, Paul McCartney and even the Spice Girls.

We’re following the sale live, so stick with us to find out how quickly tickets are selling, and what to do if you don’t manage to get your hands on them.

09:38

Demand was higher than ever this year

If you managed to get tickets, count yourself very VERY lucky!

Emily Eavis

✔@emilyeavis

We have now sold out. Thank you all for your incredible, continued support. Demand was higher than ever, with over 2.4 million people registered. Bring on 2020! https://twitter.com/glastofest/status/1180763186993065984 …

Glastonbury Festival

✔@GlastoFest

Tickets for Glastonbury 2020 have now Sold Out. Thank you to everyone who bought one, and sorry to those who missed out. There will be a ticket resale in April – plus we’ll be announcing details of a special ballot for the sale of 50 pairs of tickets in the coming days.

776

9:37 AM – Oct 6, 2019

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09:37

Yep – that’s a wrap. Glastonbury Tickets have SOLD OUT

Glastonbury Festival

✔@GlastoFest

Tickets for Glastonbury 2020 have now Sold Out. Thank you to everyone who bought one, and sorry to those who missed out. There will be a ticket resale in April – plus we’ll be announcing details of a special ballot for the sale of 50 pairs of tickets in the coming days.

1,990

9:34 AM – Oct 6, 2019

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1,249 people are talking about this

09:36

Could it be all over?

Lots of people getting this now. Waiting for official confirmation from Glastonbury Festival organisers.

Kerri McNally @kamcnally

 · 1h

I have my #Glastonbury ticket moan tweet ready to go so this is a moan tweet about that tweet moaning I have to have a moan tweet ready, ya know.

Kerri McNally @kamcnally

I got as far as putting in my reg numbers and postcodes. And then THIS. *raging #Glastonbury #GlastonburyTickets

1

9:34 AM – Oct 6, 2019

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09:33

Worth giving this a go

Everyone’s sharing their Glastonbury ticket hacks. It’s worth trying everything

Steven Hart@stevenhartt

If you disable your Adblocker you will get to the holding page #Glastonbury

9:32 AM – Oct 6, 2019

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09:27

UPDATE from Glastonbury Festival organisers

People using multiple tabs could be why so many people are struggling to get on. If everyone sticks to one tab it could increase chances of getting through.

Glastonbury Festival

✔@GlastoFest

Tickets are selling, but we are seeing huge demand. Please keep trying – just over half of the tickets have been sold so far. And please stick to one tab / screen.

670

9:26 AM – Oct 6, 2019

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367 people are talking about this

09:25

More tickets sales going through

This Glastonbury goer bought her tickets using an iPad on Chrome, using 4G not wifi. Lot of very frustrated people still struggling to get on the site though.

Alex Lee@alex__lee

BEST SUNDAY EVER #Glastonbury50 #glastonbury2020 #Glastonbury

3

9:19 AM – Oct 6, 2019

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09:13

Lot of frustrated people

Everyone seems to be having the same problem

See

✔@seetickets

 · 1h

Tickets for @GlastoFest 2020 are on sale now at https://glastonbury.seetickets.com 

Tori Grace@ToriGraceBoop

not working 🙁

1

9:09 AM – Oct 6, 2019

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See

✔@seetickets

 · 1h

Tickets for @GlastoFest 2020 are on sale now at https://glastonbury.seetickets.com 

Macca@Ryanmclfc7

Time for a ballot. This is just a joke

30

9:08 AM – Oct 6, 2019

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See

✔@seetickets

 · 1h

Tickets for @GlastoFest 2020 are on sale now at https://glastonbury.seetickets.com 

Charlotte Therese@CasualBanana

The site isn’t even working!

9:06 AM – Oct 6, 2019

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09:09

Some people are starting to get through

So many people on social media talking about how they can’t even get on the See Tickets Glastonbury sale website, but some people have been lucky.

Hang on in there and keep trying. It’s worth giving all of these top tricks for buying Glastonbury tickets a go.

Lucy Stevens@MarketingLucy

When your bestie manages to get you Glastonbury tickets in 5 minutes

9:06 AM – Oct 6, 2019

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09:02

The sale / frustration has begun

Lot of people experiencing this right now

Chris@strutcakes

Honestly @GlastoFest. Sort out your website.

2

9:00 AM – Oct 6, 2019

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08:59

Get ready…

The sale is about to begin. We’ll let you know the moment we find out it’s sold out. Get ready.

It’s already tricky trying to get onto the website, so looks like this is going to be a really busy one.

Keep trying at see tickets here.

08:44

Glastonbury See Tickets booking information

People wanting to go to Glastonbury can book up to six tickets per person at glastonbury.seetickets.com.

Tickets cost £265 plus a £5 booking fee per person.

Registration is closed and if you don’t have a valid registration number you won’t be able to book a ticket today, sorry.

The balance of each ticket must be paid by the first week in April 2020.

08:35

Countdown is on

GlastoFestFeed@GlastoFestFeed

30 MINUTE WARNING! Be prepared! #Glastonbury2020 #Glastonbury #TicketSaleDay

18

8:32 AM – Oct 6, 2019

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08:33

How to refresh on a mac

If you’re trying to get tickets using a Mac computer you might be wondering how to refresh the page, to try again and again.

What you need to do is hit the ‘command’ button, keep it pressed down and then hit R. You should then see your browser screen refresh.

08:28

Why we love Glastonbury so much

Let’s take a minute to remind ourselves why we’re so desperate to get tickets today. Worthy Farm is the only place we want to be come June, come rain or shine. People from Liverpool seem to have a real love for the festival and of course it’s a chance to dress to impress. Here’s a look a look back at some of the fashion highlights from a very sunny 2019 Glastonbury.

Neon galore at Glastonbury 2019 (Image: Getty Images)

08:10

Liverpool is ready

Liam Bannon@liambannon96

Standby operation Glastonbury exercise

6

5:59 AM – Oct 6, 2019 · Halewood, England

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Jack Conway@JackConway96

All I want more than anything else in this world, is a ticket to Glastonbury. Please. I can’t explain enouugh just how much I need and want this ticket.

3

3:26 AM – Oct 6, 2019

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Chloe@_ChloeLucas

Happy Hunger games everyone #Glastonbury

6

8:07 AM – Oct 6, 2019

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08:02

Glastonbury ticket buying tips

There are lots of theories about how best to get your hands on Glastonbury tickets and everyone’s got their own theories.

Radio X has shared tips from past successful ticket holders which could help you land the ever elusive Glastonbury ticket .

These include:

Connecting to a VPN – virtual private network – which extends a private network across a public one. This means your connection might just a little bit faster as your connection will make it look like you’re not searching in the same place as everyone else.

Using the internet on your phone as people think it seems to work faster

Having different browsers open, so get Chrome and Safari up at the same time

Don’t refresh too often – some say if you refresh too many times the site will temporarily lock you out. Many believe if you use your phone rather than a PC or laptop and just stick to the holding page it’ll happen.

There doesn’t seem to be an exact science, so our advice is to just try everything!

19:36

Glastonbury tickets on sale today at 9am

Today’s the day Glastonbury tickets go on general sale and you need to be ready at 9am on the dot. The ticket sale is notoriously frantic and on average tickets sell out in around 20 minutes.

So get multiple tabs open, keep hitting that refresh button, say a little prayer and you might just be in with a chance of bagging tickets.

Of course you want all your friends doing exactly the same thing as well in case you don’t have any luck.

We’ll keep you up to date with how the sale goes and let you know the moment the tickets sell out.

Good luck!

Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, (Image: Getty Images)

The post Live updates as Glastonbury 2020 sold out with demand higher than ever for 50th anniversary festival appeared first on Fakaza247.

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[big-stamp]

Featuring Phil Jupitus, Reginald D Hunter, Shappi Khorsandi, Andre Vincent, Alistair Barrie, Daniel Muggleton and Thomas Green

Plus a further wave of breaking music talent has been confirmed to play the city-based festival: Yonaka, Georgia, Skinny Living, Otherkin and Cassia.

Tramlines, one of the UK’s most popular city-based festivals, has announced the comedy lineup for its 2019 event. Appearing in Hillsborough Park, Sheffield are comedy heavyweights, Phil Jupitus and Reginald D Hunter, plus Shappi Khorsandi, Andre Vincent, Alistair Barrie, Daniel Muggleton and Thomas Green. This side-splitting bill marks the second year of comedy programming at Tramlines and its biggest yet, as part of its perfectly curated mix of music, art, and comedy. This latest announcement also unveils another injection of breaking music talent to the lineup, including Yonaka, Georgia, Skinny Living, Otherkin and Cassia. The 11th edition of Tramlines (19th – 21st July) will see headline performances from Two Door Cinema Club, Courteeners, Nile Rogers & CHIC, killer lineups across four-stages including Johnny Marr, Lewis Capaldi, Manic Street Preachers, Annie Mac, Tom Grennan, Rag N Bone Man and Doves; an outdoor cinema, family friendly area, and handpicked food and craft ales. Weekend tickets are in very limited supply with 95% already sold. Tier five weekend tickets are still on sale but unlikely for long, priced at an unbeatable £75.50 plus booking fee making Tramlines one of the UK’s most affordable festivals. To buy visit www.tramlines.org.uk.

The introduction of comedy at Tramlines, hosted by Sheffield institution, the Leadmill, was a hit in 2018. Crowds gathered for outrageous and risqué content from leading comics including Henning Wehn, John Shuttleworth, Bethany Black, Tom Stade, Tom Wrigglesworth, Jarred Christmas and more. With the precedent now firmly set, Tramlines and the Leadmill have cooked up another corker of a lineup for the 2019 return.

Topping the bill on Saturday night is the American expat who Brits now call one of their own, Reginald D Hunter. The Georgia-born comic is currently celebrating 20 years as a comedian living and performing in the UK with a huge 40-date national tour where in his southern drawl, he’ll have audiences keeling over with his distinctive take on race, sexuality and politics. Most will recognise his face from TV appearances on Have I Got News For You and the widely popular BBC2 series documenting the growth of American popular song, Reginald D Hunter’s Songs Of The South and its equally successful follow up, Songs Of The Border.

Headlining on Sunday is stand-up comedian, actor and performance poet, Phil Jupitus. The former team captain of 19 years on BBC Two’s popular music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks, has a career-long connection with the music industry. From touring universities supporting bands such as Billy Bragg, the Style Council and The Housemartins, directing the Brit Awards-nominated music video for Bragg’s ‘Sexuality’ in 1991, to DJing numerous times at Glastonbury, Jupitus is the perfect fit for Tramlines.

Next comes one of the country’s finest comedians, Shappi Khorsandi, who established a name for herself in 2006 with a sell-out Edinburgh show, Asylum Speaker. Khorsandi has since travelled to all corners of the globe, appeared on countless TV & Radio shows including, Mock The Week, 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Just a Minute and other flagship Radio 4 programmes.

The remaining lineup features a mix of in-demand and conquering comedians. These include the situation comic and all-round entertainer, Andre Vincent, whose 30-year career cites writing credits for Channel 4’s The 11 O’clock Show and co-creating The Late Edition, as hosted by Marcus Brigstocke. He’s joined by fellow Brit Alistair Barrie, a regular at London’s world-famous Comedy Store and a core member of their weekly topical ‘Cutting Edge’ team.

The laughs continue to roll with the Australian born / UK-based, Thomas Green, who’ll deliver his engaging-storytelling style of comedy, which combined with his quick-witted exchanges and improv, means audience members at Tramlines should think twice about heckling! Also flying the Aussie flag is Daniel Muggleton who’ll bring to the proceedings his ‘hilarious’ observations as reviewed at the Edinburgh Festival.

Tramlines Festival is also announcing another batch of new talent for the 2019 lineup, which spans genres from disco to rock and pop, from the internationally acclaimed to the hottest breaking bands. The latest additions include; Brighton four-piece, Yonaka, and post-grime pop singer, Georgia, both who’ve received high accolades from The Guardian as ‘One To Watch’; West Yorkshire’s Skinny Living who have supported Jake Bugg; Irish rock band, Otherkin, and indie band Cassia whose talents were affirmed with a Radio 1 BBC Introducing Track of the Week for their 2017 single, ‘100 Times Over’.

Whilst the Tramlines line up gets bigger each year, it remains seriously good value for money. Weekend tickets have sold quicker than ever and are now on fifth tier and priced from £75.50 plus booking fee for all three days. VIP upgrade tickets are available for an additional £50 granting access to the private VIP area situated right next to the main stage with private bars, food stalls and toilets. Under 12s go for free. For full ticketing info including monthly payment plans, visit www.tramlines.org.uk.

For all the latest news and updates, follow Tramlines on Facebook www.facebook.com/tramlines, Twitter www.twitter.com/tramlines or Instagram www.instagram.com/tramlines.

TRAMLINES FESTIVAL 2019 PHASE 3 LINE UP

Two Door Cinema Club / Courteeners / Nile Rodgers & Chic

Manic Street Preachers / Johnny Marr / Rag N Bone Man / Annie Mac / Doves

Happy Mondays / Reverend and The Makers / Miles Kane / Tom Grennan / Circa Waves / Lewis Capaldi / Drenge / Shame / Peter Hook & The Light / The Rifles / The Futureheads / Sleeper

Jade Bird / Becky Hill / The Japanese House / Good Cop Bad Cop/ Sea Girls / Yonaka / Clean Cut Kid / Georgia / She Drew The Gun / Jaws / Sports Team / Easy Life / Skinny Living / Otherkin / Whenyoung / Cassia / Another Sky / Anteros / Casey Lowry / Marsicans / Blackwaters /October Drift / Bloxx / Hey Charlie / Balcony / Man & The Echo / Everly Pregnant Brothers

Red Rum Club / Himalayas / Planet / The Estevans / The Rosadocs / Oddity Road / The Reytons / The Wired / The Seamonsters / Cora Pearl / Bedroom High Club / Children of the State

COMEDY: Phil Jupitus / Reginald D Hunter / Shappi Khorsandi / Andre Vincent / Alistair Barrie / Daniel Muggleton / Thomas Green

[netunleashed-blog]

Paul McCartney fans rage as tickets for UK tour sell out "within seconds"

http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=8472 Paul McCartney fans rage as tickets for UK tour sell out "within seconds" - http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=8472 "As soon as it turned 10am all tickets had gone." Paul McCartney‘s fans have hit out online, after tickets for his UK tour seemingly sold out within seconds. The Beatles icon is set to play three dates in Liverpool, Glasgow and London this December in support of his new album “Egypt Station”. But as tickets went on sale at 10AM, fans claimed that they were completely unable to secure tickets. Despite waiting patiently for the tickets to go on sale, they reportedly found that none were unavailable as soon as they accessed the purchase page. Posting on Twitter, one fan raged: “Been waiting since 9.30 to get @PaulMcCartney tickets as soon as it turned 10am all tickets had gone.” @TicketmasterUK @PaulMcCartney @EchoArena so how the hell do you get tickets then? Advertised to go on general sale – impossible to get them. A lot of disappointed people and they'll be on the resale site for 5 X value in minutes. Hang your heads — Greg Foster (@gregfoster81) July 16, 2018 @TicketmasterCS how can tickets for @PaulMcCartney be sold out before the 10:00AM release, Absolutely awful service — LUCY FARRELL (@_Lucyfarrell) July 16, 2018 Paul McCartney tickets went on sale at 10AM this morning, 3 dates Glasgow, Liverpool, London. Fans have been on Ticketmaster and AXS since 10, and are left empty-handed. The same old story! This has to change! — Vibe Tickets (@VibeTickets) July 16, 2018 Vibe Tickets wrote: “Paul McCartney tickets went on sale at 10AM this morning, 3 dates Glasgow, Liverpool, London. Fans have been on Ticketmaster and AXS since 10, and are left empty-handed. The same old story! This has to change!” Others noted that tickets immediately appeared on secondary resale sites, where they were being retailed at hugely inflated prices. “Maddening! How is this right? None available to fans at 10am on the official @TicketmasterUK & @AXS_UK sites yet plenty available immediately on viagogo. What a complete racket!”, one fan wrote. Maddening! How is this right? None available to fans at 10am on the official @TicketmasterUK & @AXS_UK sites yet plenty available immediately on viagogo. What a complete racket! @BBCWatchdog @BBCTheOneShow @PaulMcCartney #PaulMcCartney #tickets #viagogo #touts #tickettouts pic.twitter.com/jdHIXq8tpH — Kat (@Kat_O) July 16, 2018 Absolutely disgusting. @PaulMcCartney tickets seemingly “sold out” at 10:01, loads on Viagogo by 10:02 though and look how many are there by 10:28. Don’t worry fans, there are still thousand of tickets left… for x3 the price. Terrible @TicketmasterUK @TheSSEHydro @EchoArena pic.twitter.com/SBMDutUVsj — Ryan Davison Crisp (@dpgcrimethink) July 16, 2018 Another said: “Absolutely disgusting. @PaulMcCartney tickets seemingly “sold out” at 10:01, loads on Viagogo by 10:02 though and look how many are there by 10:28.” And one claimed that the tickets were gone “within seconds”. “Again, @PaulMcCartney tickets sell out on @TicketmasterUK within seconds, only to appear on Viagogo st 3x the price by 10.02am. Utter scam”, they wrote. Again, @PaulMcCartney tickets sell out on @TicketmasterUK within seconds, only to appear on Viagogo st 3x the price by 10.02am. Utter scam. — James Falconer (@Falcy11) July 16, 2018 NME has contacted Ticketmaster for a response to the claims. Meanwhile, it was recently hinted that Macca could headline Glastonbury next year. Asked by BBC Radio 2’s Jo Whiley about the prospect,  she responded: “Oh we always want him – he’s top of our list. We’ll have to see.” Source link

[changspain]

Getting arty in Barcelona

I woke up the next day to the Spanish woman’s bare boobs and was suddenly awake. Her partner, who I could see in the reflection of a mirror, was still lounged in bed and laughed when he saw my reaction to her. I had been forced into their sex life whether I liked it or not. She then looked up to see me looking at her and she gave me a dirty stare – I felt that this was a grave misjustice considering they had openly had loud sex in a room of 12 other people, at that point she may as well have asked me to get involved.[1] Luke then came to my bed and said that we should go out and do something. I quickly showered, changed and joined the others in the communal area. I asked the receptionist where the best place to get a cheap bite to eat was and she directed us to a café round the corner. This was our first opportunity to speak Spanish in a real life situation, JUGB entered first and was essentially told what he was having by the waitress and I’m pretty sure he had no idea what it was. The rest of us sat down and she came over to our table – we ordered the sandwich of the day without meat and Luke was annoyingly congratulated by the waitress on his flawless Spanish. My attitude to speaking to someone in Spanish is to blunder in with a huge amount of confidence and leave the conversation utterly bewildered with a deep sense of shame. Whereas Luke carefully prepares the conversation in his head and is patient like a sniper in a nest – he then strikes with precision and accuracy. I’m not quite sure what JUGB plans to do but it always seems to be: say something, panic, say the phrase again in English but with a heavy Spanish accent so thick nobody involved in the situation knows what he is on about. Luke is most definitely the best with me and JUGB lagging behind, but we are still better than Seamus’: “Can I ‘av a botlle of warta mate?”.

After breakfast we went back to the hostel to plan our day. We decided that the best course of action was to head to Sagrada Familia then to Park Guell and finally to the beachfront. We walked to the Sagrada Familia which took about 15 minutes (under my careful leadership and map skills). It is hard to describe our reaction to the Sagrada Familia other than: “Yep, there it is.”. It’s a strange feeling when you actually see a heavily photographed and documented place in reality – I always think it will be somehow better or more awe inspiring but turns out pictures are pretty good at capturing reality[2] so I always find it slightly underwhelming. The Sagrada Familia itself is interesting, it feels like it should be placed at the centre of a theme park or on the set of an alien apocalypse blockbuster. Whatever Gaudi wanted to do the city of Barcelona clearly let him like some sort of Sim City player. I thought that the modernist curves and slightly abrasive spikes represented the Catholic Church more effectively than the regimented and bold architecture of British cathedrals. I felt there was a symmetry between the surrealism of the Sagrada Famila and the surrealism of a fictitious set of principles controlling much of society – just as the Sagrada Famila felt like a governing alien mothership, the Catholic Church very much fufilled the same role. My musings were interrupted by a man selling fake Ray-Bans on a cotton cloth; he said they were very nice and they weren’t bad to be fair to the lad.

We then took the Metro to Park Guell. Whilst on the train Seamus nearly fell asleep, he was working off the back of a 3 day trip to Canada during which, there is photographic evidence of him drinking champagne on stage with DJ Quik. On top of this I’m pretty sure he was battling a stomach bug which he had contracted whilst jumping off bridges – I’m painting a very dynamic character for Seamus but it’s also important to know he spends almost every day sat in a small wooden cabin making music. When at Park Guell we found out it was 7 euros for entry which sickened me to the pit of my being, we all agreed this was a decadent luxury we could ill afford on our budget 20 day trip. As we meandered towards the park we found that you didn’t actually have to pay to have a walk around, only to be let into a sort of inner circle a bit like that circle at the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury that cunts pay for. As we weren’t cunts nor rich we simply walked round the free part of park. As we passed more Gaudi art, men were selling various tat on the side of the path which ranged from bird whistles to a dancing Spongebob[3]. Ivy was enticed by everything they were selling but, like a kid in a candy store, she didn’t possess enough individual wealth to splash out. We reached the centre of the park and were confronted with a brown, contorted set of pillars and, to a certain generation, they were inescapably similar to the Jungle Run set[4]. I did my best kids TV host impression and welcomed the participants to the challenge, then shouted “Right guys let’s go!” and sprinted into the distance. 20m further ahead I turned, expecting to see at least 2 of my friends but was faced by a stony scowl from an elderly American woman and thought that neither she nor my friends were going to get any sick personal games consoles. I waited on a ledge for the four of them to catch up, to be fair to Seamus he was an absolute husk of a man by this point and the going was slow. We gradually hiked up to the highest point. At the zenith of the park was an ant hill shaped raised platform with a path circling it and a crucifix at the top, tourists gathered to take pictures of the Barcelona skyline as the park overlooked the entire city. Dusty rooftops stretched towards a glistening blue sea, an occasional modern skyscraper or spire burst through the desert of red tiling. At the water front a leviathan cruise liner basked in the sunlight surrounded by glass buildings and beaches. Right in the centre of Barcelona was a wooded hill with a magnificent 1800s building sat upon it, I assumed it was some sort of palace or old government building.[5] In the foreground a slightly rundown building had anarchist messages scrawled all over it and women’s faces painted on the walls in the style of British fun fair rides’ art; the style where all the bikini clad women are slightly blurred and heavily airbrushed but really get you in the mood for adrenaline when you’re 2 bottles of Frosty Jack’s deep.[6] The anarchist logo took centrepiece whilst “Fuck the Police” and “Capitalist slaves” lay either side of it. I found it ironic that the people inside the anarchist housing association only knew the cultural significance of the phrase: “Fuck the Police” because of globalist capitalism but if I met them I wouldn’t have mentioned it due to the possible repercussions of getting a lit cigarette rammed in the eye.

Whilst taking in this view, behind me the men selling bric-a-brac had been replaced with a middle aged man wearing zebra leggings playing the guitar. There was never really a tune as such, more of an improvised musical stream of consciousness; like a deranged Miles Davis he would use the chance procedure of different audience members to dictate his performance. This improvisation normally took the form of calling a woman beautiful then screaming “MEOW!” at her for 30 seconds – if you search ‘Turkish man yelling at egg’ on YouTube you will very much get the flavour of this musical display. After taking some pictures and literally running past Miles Davis we took the Metro down to the Dessannes station and walked out onto an avenue right next to the ocean. Me and JUGB saw a signpost for the Maritime Museum and thought it would be a good idea because it would firstly be cool and would be a good opportunity for Seamus to have rest because at that point, around 3pm, he was only present physically and his mind had left him somewhere in the maze of underground train tunnels. Before this resurrection, we needed lunch. We headed for a small supermarket and bought some bread and cheese, Ivy had a liquid lunch of an Estrella which set her back a whopping 85 cents. After walking out into the street I wondered why everyone wasn’t rolling around on the floor knee deep in their own excrement and vomit with alcohol prices so low. I also wondered about the rehydration qualities of beer considering my refreshing orange juice was a whole euro more expensive than Ivy’s beer – I assumed they weren’t very good but a euro is a euro. We ate lunch to the sound of what we assumed was a heroin addict on a heavy come down’s screams. Somebody gave him some juice and he fell asleep shortly after. Luke explained that if he was rich enough to be a heroin addict he would be, I looked at the passed out man and wasn’t so sure.

After lunch, we attempted to head to the Maritime Museum but on our way we passed a modern, white building with its doors open, I’m not sure how or why we entered it we were just drawn to it and we slowly filed in then past the reception then past a curtain into an enormous dark room. Green and purple lights softly scintillated across the room from spotlights way up on the ceiling. Atmospheric ambient music reverberated around the cave room. Seamus identified one of the songs as belonging to Flying Lotus but other than that the music sounded alien. In the centre of the room were 4 leather sofas. Me, Luke and Seamus laid down and Seamus instantly fell asleep. The whole room was entirely peaceful, the experience would not be out of place in an art film about existence or a stylised educational depiction of the beginning of the universe – I wouldn’t bat an eye if I found out the room was based on a Kubrickian vision of death. JUGB and Ivy either became bored or curious and took a glass elevator to the next floor or more fittingly: transcended to higher state of being (that was located on the second floor). After maybe 20 minutes me and Luke rose from our dazed state, decided that trying to wake Seamus from his coma would do more harm than good also transcended to the second floor. The first exhibition was a series of subverted mathematical graphs, the antithesis between pure artistic expression and numerical boundary was interesting but didn’t change my life. The next room consisted of frosted plastic boxes on walls containing gradually changing light schemes. The overall effect was one of harmony and it was aesthetically pleasing but after 30 minutes of atmospheric tranquillity you probably could have shown me and Luke a bouncing ball and we would have came in our pants. The next room was in the same vain as the previous room filled with coloured boxes except this time the pattern of colours projected onto the walls were remotely controlled by two iPads that patrons could play with. None of mine and Luke’s creations were particularly meaningful but the immersion of the installation was enjoyable and we stayed for maybe 10 minutes just smashing our fingers on a bit of glass. The final room was a 45 minute film that seemed to explore the relationship between eye and camera. The entire film was subtitled in Spanish but half of the voiceover was in English and the other half in French. The film itself was a Victorian style physiological autopsy assessment in which a doctor mechanically examined a naked bearded man. The bulk of the film was broken up by shots of a roaming modern camera and other cameramen also with cameras. The English voiceovers were clearly intended to be placed together to form an intellectual essay from a machine’s point of view. The essay included humorous truisms about the fallacies of human experience and an unrelenting rhetoric of technological superiority. It was difficult to understand what the French essay was about but it dealt with many of the same issues, perhaps from the human perspective. The nature of the film was relatively poignant but the thing we all took away from it was the naked guy had massive balls. We went back to the ground floor and found Seamus where we left him, picking him up was similar to the climax of a Studio Ghibli film where the hero must find somebody’s soul deep within a dreamscape and return it to their body – we gave him the kiss of life and left for the beach.

[1] I probably would have.

[2] Who’d have thought it? Not me, personally.

[3] These items were equally impressive. I still don’t know how the Spongebob was dancing.

[4] Not sure exactly which series this specific set item appeared in but I know it was when the angry white dude hosted the show before Michael Underwood got involved and it all went a little bit soft – if those kids aren’t getting those monkeys quick enough they need to fucking know.

[5] This isn’t a travel guide and I am not an expert.

[6] I assume this is the case because there MUST be a reason for this art choice.

[aroundtheworldin18years]

A FESTIVAL OF FOOD AND COLOUR We are quite fortunate in that we live on an island which has some of the best local food produce that you will find anywhere in the world.  Once a year, the island town of Enniskillen is host to a Festival which celebrates the best local produce, and gives visitors a chance to sample the local artisan food and drink on offer, as well as showcasing the talents of our local chefs with cookery demonstrations.  The event takes place over two days and attracts visitors from all over the world.  In its third year, Festival Lough Erne was held in the grounds of the historical 600 year old Enniskillen Castle located on the beautiful waterways of the Lough Erne.  The site also houses the Fermanagh County Museum and the regimental museum of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, all are worthy of a visit.

Waggling in the wind

Insert your own ball gag here

Twin Turrets

The sky is the limit

IS IT A BIRD, IS IT A PLANE…IT’S ANYTHING YOU WANT This is our second year attending Festival Lough Erne and thankfully the weather was perfect, last year the event was a complete washout.  There’s nothing worse than walking around at a festival on a cold wet day, unless it’s Glastonbury and mud wallowing is expected.  Entry to Festival Lough Erne was just a couple of quid each and the girls were free.  On the main stage set up in the courtyard, music was provided by children from Omagh Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, who played an assortment of traditional Irish instruments.  Entertainment for the children came from superhero characters who ‘bust shapes’ on the dance floor and mingled with the children getting photos taken, there was also face painting and balloon modelling by our good friend and Guinness World Record Holder, Ryan Tracy, Duff Balloons.  For those of you not familiar with Ryan’s story, he is a balloon modeller from Omagh, County Tyrone and managed to get himself a slot on Britain’s Got Talent, he wowed judges when he successfully broke a GWR live on TV, the man is a gentleman and legend.  Since his appearance on TV, Ryan has become a local celebrity and is the happiest man we think we’ve ever met, always smiling.  If Ryan can’t make it with a balloon, then it’s not worth making…simples.

It was ‘er wot dunnit guv

One boy and his banjo

Awww, the wee pet(al)

3 GWR’s…that’s just greedy

Hello shorty

Does anyone have a tin opener

GRUB’S UP It was just after 13:00 when we arrived at Festival Lough Erne and for those of you who know us, food is always top of our list, and today was no exception.  It was great to see one of our favourite restaurants in attendance, Dollakis, a Greek restaurant located in Enniskillen, this is our first port of call and as usual, the food did not disappoint, the falafel is the best we have ever tasted anywhere.  After food, we make our way into the Food Hall to peruse (and purchase from) the many produce stalls.

Dollakis

Food worth waiting for

LITTLE MISS STICKY FINGERS Upon entering the Food Hall the smell of freshly cooked food instantly hits us, Matilda has already made her way to a stall selling cupcakes and she sticks her finger in the cream on the top of a cupcake, Daddy has to put his hand in the pocket before we even begin!  Lynne stops at a stall showcasing amazingly detailed paintings and illustrations by Fermanagh based artist Gráinne Knox.  Gráinne’s inspiration and business name, Inspired By Astrid, comes from her young daughter Astrid.  As well as painting famous landmarks, Gráinne is a children’s book illustrator and her work can be seen in John Gilmour’s Hector and the Magic Detector available on Amazon.  I am currently working on a children’s book, so maybe Gráinne could help me out…watch this space!

Mummy, can I have this one please

I’M NOT COLD, I’M JUST A LITTLE CHILLI We visit each stall in turn and the girls delight at the free samples that each stall has on offer.  Lily-Belle and Matilda are very adventurous when it comes to trying new foods, Mummy definitely isn’t, and both waste no time in sampling crackers and jams from The Erne larder Preserves stall, that is, until Matilda dips into something with a hint of chilli in…she wasn’t one bit amused, her demand for a drink could be heard echoing around the marquee.  The Erne Larder Preserves have an amazing array of preserves, chutneys and sauces, don’t mind if I do purchase a few, always great for a cheese board night when friends call.

How do you like your donuts…with #JAMMIN

Now that’s saucy

Tastes just like a rainbow

YOU MUST BE CRACKERS Eating crackers and preserves makes for thirsty work, plus Matilda’s mouth is on fire so we (mainly she) needs a drink, and quick.  Matilda sees a multi-coloured stall and thinks it is selling slush puppies, it isn’t.  The stall is in fact Papas Mineral Company who sell speciality artisan cordials in a whole variety of flavours, including lemonade that Matilda was extremely grateful for, her mouth was no longer on fire…bless.  Purely for giggles I ask Matilda if she would like to go back and try some more ‘chilli jam’, her answer ‘no, maybe not’.  Too cute!  Papas Mineral Company cordials come in a variety of flavours such as the extremely popular non-alcoholic ginger wine, to the light and summery elderflower cordial.  Don’t worry if these two flavours don’t appeal, there is a flavour suitable for every person, season and occasion.  Papas Mineral Company have a stall each Saturday morning at the famous food and garden market at St Georges Market in Belfast, go along and try them for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.

Lemonade as it should be, fresh

And the mouth fire is out

Taste a rainbow of flavour

SAY SAUSAGES In our house we try to eat healthy, but in all honesty, we (Daddy in particular) love a good fry up, and a fry up isn’t the same without sausages, and beans, a fry must have beans!  As a family we don’t like beef sausages, pork is always the choice, so Imagine our surprise when we come across Cavan based Barry Johns Butchers selling an assortment of flavoured sausages.  We stood for several minutes sampling the delicious sausages, and had we been allowed, we would have spent the whole afternoon at this one stall, the flavours were amazing.  I particularly loved the chocolate and honeycomb, yes you read that right, chocolate and honeycomb sausages, but for Lynne it was the curry sausages, the girls had no preference and happily sampled each flavour.  Bangers purchased, and I’m really looking forward to my next fry.  We were too busy eating that we neglected to take a photo…doh!  So here is a random picture, courtesy of Uncle Google, of a festival pig wearing wellies, absolutely nothing to do with the Festival Lough Erne!

This little piggy went to market…

LAY A LITTLE EGG FOR ME We finally drag ourselves away from the sausage stall and Matilda makes a bee-line for a stall selling all colours of candy floss.  Bucket of blue candy floss purchased we continue our food journey, where to next at the Festival Lough Erne?  As a coeliac sufferer, I struggle with food, it doesn’t help that I have a dairy and egg intolerance as well!  Lynne tells me to purchase eggs from award-winning Cavanagh Free Range Eggs, and I begin my usual spiel of ‘what for, I can’t eat them’ and I get the usual reply of ‘but we do’!  The gentleman on the stall obviously picks up on something and invites us over, I strike up a conversation and explain my intolerance and allergies and that’s why I wasn’t purchasing eggs on this occasion.  We did walk away with a free pen, you can never have enough pens you know.  I honestly meant to go back later on in the day to buy eggs for ‘er indoors but clean forgot.  Next time I see Cavanagh Free Range Eggs in the supermarket, I’ll make amends and buy some.

Let’s eat a rainbow

Say cheeese…I’d rather say eggs!

Bring out the bacon

I CAN SEE A RAINBOW One thing we note from the Festival Lough Erne is colour, so vibrant, so intense, it’s everywhere.  Colour in the drinks, the labelling, the food, the containers, the balloons…everywhere.  Lough Erne Cakes had the most amazing macaroon tower in a multitude of colours, and each colour a completely different flavour.  Lily-Belle chose blue-coconut, Daddy chose ivory-coffee ganache, Matilda also chose blue as she likes to copy her sister, and Mummy chose green-pistachio and they were delicious.  The sweet meringue-based confection just dissolved on the tongue, ever so moreish.  My only regret was not buying enough to take home, but we did opt for a selection of the extravagant looking cupcakes to take away with us, perfect with a cup of aromatic chocolate and fig flavoured coffee purchased from Sperrin Speciality Coffee.  The girls also took a couple home for Nana and Granda.

Y + UMMY = YUMMY

Go on, you know you want two, or three

Who are you calling cupcake

Yes please, one of each

The emotional wedding cake is in tiers

AND A WHOLE LOT MORE Enniskillen Castle also houses the Fermanagh County Museum and the regimental museum of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, all are very worthy of a visit.  There are fantastic historical artefacts scattered throughout the grounds including medals, photographs, silverware, uniforms, canons and military vehicles.  We even found the old water gate, perfect for locking up two cheeky little rascals, namely Lily-Belle and Matilda.

If that’s a tank, where are the fish

Let us out…perleeeeze

Cannon…but bot Bobby

Workshops of war

ROW ROW ROW THE BOAT At round 16:30 we leave Festival Lough Erne and walk the short distance to the river bank to see about a cruise on the river, unfortunately we had just missed the last boat Erne Water Taxi and so we were in a bit of a pickle, Matilda was about to have a full on meltdown!  We spotted kayak’s being taken out by Erne Paddlers.  There was space available so we got kitted out and climbed aboard.  Matilda took up position at the front of the kayak, Mummy directly behind, then Daddy, Lily-Belle and the lady and gent from Erne Paddlers in charge of steering at the back.  This our first experience as a family in a kayak.  Our guided journey took us out on the Lough, around the fountain at the Erneside Shopping Centre, and then returned back to the jetty.  We were alongside a family from Strabane and we had plenty of laughs on the water.

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MUCH MORE THAN THE FOOD Festival Lough Erne is about more than just food, it’s a festival that brings people together, a celebration of all things cultural, but don’t get me wrong, food plays a huge part in the festival.  We live just outside Enniskillen and this was our first visit to Enniskillen Castle, and it really is a fantastic historical place, a ‘must visit place’ should you find yourself in the area.  As a family we had a great day at a well organised festival, we will be back in 2018 for sure.

LILY-BELLE (age 8) SAYS I had a great day. I really loved seeing Ryan as he always makes great balloon models, this time I got a unicorn hat, and Matilda got a Unicorn.  I really liked trying the jams and it was funny when Matilda ate the chilli jam.  We got a huge chocolate covered apple to take home.  The boat was lots of fun and I’d like to do it again but not wearing my good boots.

MATILDA (age 3) SAYS I like the boat and the yellow paddle.  The candyfloss was very nice.

The Festival Lough Erne is annual but event dates vary Date of visit:  24th September 2017 Entry Fee:  Adult –  £2.00 each, children under 12 free Tel:  +44 (0) 28 6632 5000  Send a message:  info@festivallougherne.com Car park:  public parking and pay and display nearby

information, currency and prices are correct at time of post

SOCIAL MEDIA If you enjoyed reading our BLOG post, please feel free to share it using the social media icons below.  To ensure you don’t miss out on our future BLOG posts, please follow us on Facebook or Sign Up To Our Newsletter, it’s completely free.

All views, opinions and experiences are that of The Callaghan Possy and are correct at time of publication.  Photos taken by Andrew Callaghan for use and distribution by Around The world In 18 Years.

A FESTIVAL OF FOOD AND COLOUR A FESTIVAL OF FOOD AND COLOUR We are quite fortunate in that we live on an island which has some of the best local food produce that you will find anywhere in the world.  

[opticien2-0]

Brands and retailers set to cash in on festivals and ‘festravel’ this summer

Brands and retailers should pay close attention to the music scene this summer as consumers flock to faraway festivals.

Consumers are increasingly heading to festivals at home and abroad this summer, presenting many opportunities to retailers. Many may consider actually attending festivals with pop up shops, but the opportunity runs much deeper than that: festival planning means that, if you get your marketing tied in with the festival vibe, you can increase sales ahead of events.

If you are really clever you can also boost sales during festivals thanks to the now ubiquitious mobile coverage at most sites. Timing your marketing around festivals, the weather and acts that are playing could well see sales grow.

But the real opportunity lies in tapping into those consumers going overseas to festivals.  That’s according to new data from lastminute.com group that points to ‘festravel’ – travelling abroad to a music festival – as one of this year’s biggest trends.

Almost half (47%) of Brits would travel abroad for a music festival and this intention is increasingly being put into practice. Booking data from the group shows that the number of Europeans flying out to Croatia around the time of Ultra Festival shot up by a third (33%) in 2016, compared to 2015, with Ypsigrock Festival in Italy experiencing an equal boost in popularity.

And brands should take advantage of the growing window of opportunity to engage these festival tourists with helpful and inspiring content, as the data reveals that ‘festravel’ preparations are beginning earlier each year. Music lovers travelling to Budapest ahead of Sziget Festival booked their trips an average of 45 days in advance last year – up from 32 in 2015 – while those heading to Berlin just before Lollapalooza in 2016 booked 47 days ahead of time, up from 33 the year before.

It’s not just other countries that stand to benefit from this festival trade. The number of Europeans arriving in London spiked five days before Glastonbury kicked off last week, up 110% compared to the previous two days – presenting UK retailers with a lucrative opportunity to cash in on last minute party purchases. And with a staggering 400% more people are set to arrive the day before Lovebox kicks off in July, compared to five days before, retailers have another chance to be part of the festival action.

“As festivals become a staple ingredient for the perfect summer break, festival-goers are looking to brands for inspiration for everything they need to make their trip special and successful – from tents to travel insurance,” says Alessandra Di Lorenzo, Chief Commercial Officer, Media and Partnerships, at lastminute.com group. “Brands that fail to factor this unique audience into their online campaigns risk missing out on a big category of summer spend.”

With the festival season well underway, lastminute.com group’s media business, The Travel People, has launched a new music lovers targeting tool. This will allow brands to target and engage users who possess a love for music and travel, both on and offsite, right across Europe.

Di Lorenzo adds: “Our rich data means we know not just where people like to go, but what they love to do when they get there too. We want to help our brand partners to delve deeper than demographics and target by passion, engaging their audiences with content that will complement their experience. That’s why we’ve launched our music lovers targeting tool – and festival-goers are just one audience segment that brands can use it to reach.”

The new tool is linked to a new brand partnership lastminute.com group recently launched with digital music service Spotify to explore how music makes you travel. As part of the campaign, this year lastminute.com is an official sponsor for Sziget Festival, Budapest (9th – 16th August 2017), and Lollapalooza, Berlin (3rd – 6th August). It will be selling tickets and packages for the festivals to help people experience travel through music, available at http://ift.tt/2sxiOxU

Yannic Pluymackers, Chief Marketing Officer at lastminute.com group, comments: “Music is such an integral part of travel – it inspires us to visit new places, influences our experiences in those places and creates memories long after leaving a place. Our #MusicMakesYouTravel campaign aligns our brand with experiences like festivals, so we can help more people discover the world through the music they love.”

The post Brands and retailers set to cash in on festivals and ‘festravel’ this summer appeared first on InternetRetailing.

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[chooniverse]

Because [sigh] its that time again...

A 2016 piece I wrote for DIVA, on female/LGBTQ visibility, gender disparity and VAGW at music festivals. Because organisers are still not getting it right, still rattling off the same old excuses. CN: VAGW, rape, whitewashing 

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Break out those long-neglected tents, for music fest season is fast upon us. At the time of press, line-ups for this year’s crop of beery jamborees look much the same in terms of absent women. PJ Harvey tops the Field Day bill [11-12 June], Rihanna is at V Fest, co-headlining alongside Justin Beiber (19-21 Aug), Adele is at Glastonbury (22-26 June) and a triune of greats crown the bill at this year’s End of The Road (2-4 Sept): Joanna Newsome, Cat Power and Bat For Lashes. But men still rule the roost, topping bills at Lovebox, Wireless, T in The Park, Download, Reading & Leeds, Latitude and Bestival.  

Gender disparity is a perennial issue at music fests, and each year, organisers find themselves under increasing scrutiny — from fans, fest-goers and the media — to right those scales. Female artists have dominated the charts of late, from Adele Taylor (with 25) and Taylor Swift (1989) to Beyoncé (Lemonade). Why aren’t they topping festival bills, in greater numbers, too?

2015 was both a bummer in this respect — peak gender disparity, the usual excuses from organisers — but also a pinnacle of push-back activism. The catalyst? A viral doctored poster of that year’s Reading & Leeds fest(s), in which the many male acts had been removed, leaving — you guessed it — a whole lot of blank space, peppered with a smattering of female acts at the mid-lower end of the bill.

"I have a 16-year-old sister, who is at the age I was when I started attending festivals, including Leeds”, said Dalton, when interviewed about the poster. “The idea that she could attend the event and quite feasibly not see a single female performer, doesn't quite sit right with me. It's entirely representative of the industry as a whole, and everyone needs to stop passing the buck on it. Especially a festival where BBC have involvement, one would hope to see a far greater representation of the population."

A bristling tide of blogs and thinkpieces followed. The Guardian’s data team released damning — if predictable — findings: results from their study showed that a stonking 86% of advertised performers on the line-ups of 12 leading UK festivals were male, with 2,336 men performing compared to just 270 women. At Creamfields, women made up just 3% of the line-up. Reading & Leeds and Download also fared abysmally, with bills made up of 94% and 96% men respectively. Florence Welch may have headlined Glasto, but only in a plan B capacity, stepping in after a last minute drop-out from the original headliners, the Foo Fighters. Welch pushed the grand total of female-led Glasto headliners up to five, joining Suzanne Vega, Sinéad O'Connor, Shakespears Sister and Beyoncé — the sole woman of colour among the bunch. For a festival that’s been running since 1970, these stats are dire.  

When asked for an explanation, organisers and their spokespeople tend to rattle off a list of hoary, go-to excuses — all of which have been roundly debunked. Excuse #1: ‘Women headliners are a financial risk’. Nope. The always-reliable End of The Road, are proof that fests can book women and still sell-out. Also, data shows that fest-goers are evenly split, with men and women (an imperfect, binary way of head-counting) attending in equal number; line-ups should mirror this. I know my friends and I are more likely to splash out on a fest ticket if a bill is female-friendly; we want to see reflections of ourselves on the big stage.

Excuse #2: ‘There are fewer women making music, which means fewer women to book’.  Nuh uh — you’re just not looking hard enough, or in the right places. Bookers have a duty to extend their search past the usual, safe pool of stale, pale males with guitars. And besides, history have proven that girls and women are way more likely to pick up instruments if we see successful examples out there already, laying the ground: you can’t be what you can’t see.  So, if there is any truth in the ‘fewer women’ argument (which there isn’t), fests are perpetuating the obstacle they claim is hindering them — and have the power to rectify it.

For emerging musicians, a spot on a mainstream line-up — even a low-rung slot, during the daytime, on the smaller, less prestigious stages — can be the difference between a dead-end career or a promising one, kick-starting a cycle that’ll include industry cachet, press coverage, networking, potential signing deals and an increased chance of touring/booking gigs in the future. Mainstream fests have clout. Its time they recognize and honour this. Its also time they sign up to the White Ribbon Music Project — a campaign that asks all major festivals, organisers, bands and producers to pledge their commitment to ending violence against women. 

In the mean time, queer and female-centric DIY alternatives are proliferating, from Queer Fest Leeds and Bent Fest in the London, to Berlin’s Yo! Sissy (29-30 July) and a myriad of events in the US including Queer Rock Camp and FED UP Fest (“no jerks, no cops, no oppressive behaviour”). These events tend to put community and politics above profit, booking accessible venues with safe space policies and keeping ticket prices affordable. These pop-up spaces are a boon for artists who aren’t out for credit in the straight world, and  queer, female music lovers who prefer grassroots events to the corporate festival circuit. They’re probably the only place you’ll get to see a queer woman of colour in the headline slot (we see you, Victoria Ruiz of Downtown Boys!)

In these spaces, both performers and punters can rock out in the knowledge that they’re safety is paramount, that misogyny, trans/homophobia and ‘banter’ won’t be tolerated. This in stark contrast to the often beery and laddish mainstream fests, were queer, female, WoC (women of colour) and trans fest-goers are vulnerable to everything from harassment and abuse to violence and rape. In the last few years, incidents of rape have increased. Last year, journalist Radhika Sanghani contacted organisers about the issue, reporting in The Telegraph: “I tried to speak to several organisers of the UK’s most popular festivals but none of them got back to me.”

It’s little wonder then that some young, queer women feel safer at these smaller, indoor DIY fests. London’s Bent Fest will open its doors this May for the second year running, at DIY Space For London, declaring itself “back to sneer in the face of heteronormativity and revel in all which is different, deviant and loud”, while Pandora Fest, a one day (and night) shindig boasting a cross-genre line-up that includes “female singer/songwriters, women musicians and female fronted bands” will take place 16-17 July at DunCarron Medieval Village in Scotland — a rugged, sprawl of history-rich green land abutting the Carron Valley reservoir.

“If the music industry is a boys club — and it is — that is nowhere more evident than in the festival scene,” says Caroline Daalmeijer, an organiser at Pandora Fest. “For music fans, Pandorafest is an opportunity to see the great female talent that's out there once you step away from the 'girl band' cliche. And for female artists, we're providing a platform for some of the finest musical creativity that this industry has ever ignored.”

So, do we need more DIY fests, created and curated by the people in the audience? Or do we need mainstream fests to be safer, more inclusive — on stage and off? Both, please.

http://www.whiteribboncampaign.co.uk/makepledge

[neard21]

2016: Albums of Year - #10-6

10. Yak – Alas Salvation

Yak had been slowly cultivating a mass following over the last few years thanks to their extraordinary and unpredictable live shows. 2016 was the year they decided to try and harness this immense live experimentation on to a full record. And boy did they; alongside all of their psychedelic freak-outs and instrumentals from their live show, Yak know how to write a well put together 3 minute punk tune. This whole album works so well as a full record because of these coherent bursts of punk energy interspersed in quality rock and roll/blues meandering. It’s always nice to see a new band knock it out of the park this confidently after so much hype.

9. A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here, Thank You 4 Your Service

This should have been a terrible year for ATCQ after the passing of legendary member and producer Phife Dawg. However, they chose to harness this sadness, alongside some incredible beats that Phife had already been amassing for this record, to release their first full album in nearly 20 years. The emotion, the timing of the record and the previously mentioned work that Phife Dawg had already been working on made this for an incredible return to form and maybe final farewell. Another album that works as a whole body of work with its consistent and grooving beats to go with Q-Tip’s laid back flow. The amount of uncredited guest appearances here from obvious influences Anderson Paak and Kendrick Lamar alongside Andre 3000, Kanye West and others show the confidence they had in this album and the confidence their peers also had with it. If this is to be the final farewell from ATCQ then Phife Dawg can rest easy.

8. Beyoncé – Lemonade

This was easily the most talked-about album of the year without doubt. Amidst all of the controversy surrounding the lyrics and possible details of a rift in the mega couple’s relationship, there was a high quality and beautifully eclectic record in the background. Beyoncé, with another surprise release, showed; while she might keep quiet for periods of time, she has her finger well and truly on and ahead of the pulse. This album mixed some of the best r&b for a while with some excellent dancehall beats with the occasional moment of angry blues and leftfield alt-r&b. The latter two thanks to excellent guest appearances from Jack White and James Blake. Musically this album was brilliant and coupled with the story that Beyoncé had created for the lyrical content, this was at times both gently vulnerable and also fuck-you aggressive at times too. There was a reason that everyone from all sides of the musical spectrum were raving about this.

7. Skepta – Konnichiwa

One of the forefathers of British hip-hop and the leader of the worldwide grime breakout in the last 2 years, Skepta certainly had a lot to live up to this year with his most recent album. This was a pressure that Skepta was obviously aware of as documented on the vulnerable Corn on The Curb with fellow forefather and legend Wiley. But Skepta definitely dealt with the pressure and produced the ultimate grime rulebook for 2016. Shutdown was 2015’s breakout hit, but alongside other classic grime tracks like Lyrics, It Ain’t Safe and Man, Skepta showed why he has been leading the revolution. Testament to the quality of this album is the fact that they could have not placed Shutdown on the album and it wouldn’t have made it any weaker. There weren’t as many American guest spots as people had speculated except for the funky Numbers with Pharrell. Too many guest stars and over-production could have been easy for Skepta to sell out on this year but instead he kept it original and ended up making the grime bible that people had hoped he would.

6. Viola Beach – Viola Beach

Viola Beach’s is a story that tugged on everyone’s heart strings when the tragic news arose early this year that the whole band had unfortunately passed away in one fatal accident while on their first foreign tour. Now, the cynics of the world would argue that this was the only reason their music itself even got any attention this year. But, the obvious outpouring of emotion from peers such as Blossoms and many other local bands along with the heart-wrenching tribute by Coldplay in their Glastonbury headline set shows how highly this band were thought of. While some tracks are clearly not finished, the band’s management and family decided to put out what had been recorded in to an album. And thank god they did; this is a beautiful tribute and an obvious example that Viola Beach certainly did have the tunes that could have propelled them to the level of fellow northerners Catfish & The Bottlemen, Blossoms and The 1975 with songs to match and even better each and every one of these bands. These were obviously 4 very talented lads and it is a damn shame that we won’t get to hear what they could have gone on to produce but a number 1 album and that tribute from Coldplay were a fitting and long-lasting tribute.